03/09/2016 - The two international festivals join forces to bring the acclaimed training programme to South-East Europe and the Mediterranean region

Consistently investing in industry interconnection, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) has joined forces with the Locarno Film Festival in launching the Locarno Industry Academy International (LIAI) at the 57^th TIFF (3-13 November 2016), where the acclaimed training programme will be implemented in this year’s Agora section.

Αlready launched in Mexico, Brazil and New York, the LIAI is a training programme created to help young sales agents, distributors and new-media professionals to extend their experience and networking in international sales, marketing, distribution and programming. “The LIAI in Thessaloniki will be a major opportunity that will benefit our region in terms of new talents acquiring new tools in distribution, sales and training,” said TIFF’s general director, with LIAI project manager Marion Klotz adding, “We are happy to start this new challenge in partnership with the TIFF.”

Vanja Kaludjercic will headline TIFF’s portion of the LIAI as regional project manager, which will prioritise participants from Greece, as well as South-East European and Mediterranean countries. With country eligibility extending to Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, the LIAI will also include international participants from the Industry Academy’s partner regions (Europe, Latin America, Switzerland and USA).

Young sales agents, distributors and new-media professionals partaking in LIAI in Thessaloniki will attend a special workshop aimed at enabling interaction with key players from the international film industry, for discussions, case-study presentations and group workshops. They will also be able to participate in a range of activities organised by the 57^th TIFF’s Agora section, including networking events and seminars with representatives of the global cinema domain.